Moral Resilience

Transforming Moral Suffering in Healthcare

Edited by Cynda Hylton Rushton

The first book to explore the emerging concept of moral resilience from a variety of perspectives including nursing, bioethics, philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, and contemplative practice

Offers tangible solutions to support the healthcare workforce in light of ethically inspired burnout, which include what individuals, healthcare leaders, and the system itself can do to shift the ever-increasing prevalence of moral suffering

Applies a template for culture change, used worldwide, to guide system re-design to foster a culture of ethical practice

Moral Resilience

Transforming Moral Suffering in Healthcare

Edited by Cynda Hylton Rushton

Description

Suffering is an unavoidable reality in healthcare. Not only are patients and families suffering, but more and more the clinicians who care for them are also experiencing distress. The omnipresent, daily presence of moral adversity is, in part, a reflection of the burgeoning complexity of healthcare, clinicians role within it, and the expanding range of available interventions that must be balanced with competing demands. There is an urgent need to design solutions that address the myriad of factors which create the conditions for imperilled integrity within the healthcare system.

Moral resilience is a pathway to transform the effects of moral suffering in healthcare. Dr. Rushton and colleagues offer a novel approach to addressing moral suffering that engages transformative strategies for individuals and systems alike and leverages practical skills and tools for a sustainable workforce that practices with integrity, competence, and wholeheartedness, and dismantles the systemic patterns that impede ethical practice. This is a must-read for clinicians and front line-nurses, physicians, system leaders, and policymakers, as it will require collective collaboration, aligned values, shared language, and intentional design to make our healthcare organizations and their clinicians healthy again.

Edited by Cynda Hylton Rushton

Author Information

Cynda Hylton Rushton, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Anne and George L. Bunting Professor of Clinical Ethics in the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and the School of Nursing, with a joint appointment in the School of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics. A founding member of the Berman Institute of Bioethics, Dr. Rushton co-chairs the Johns Hopkins Hospital's Ethics Committee and Consultation Service. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, a Hasting's Center Fellow and author of over 175 journal articles and scholarly book chapters.

Contributors:

Alisa Carse, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Philosophy, Faculty Affiliate of the Kennedy Institute of Bioethics, Georgetown University. Her teaching and research are centered in moral philosophy, social and political theory, moral psychology, and gender theory.

Alfred W. Kaszniak, Ph.D. is a clinical neuroscientist, emeritus professor, and former head of the department of psychology at The University of Arizona, and a Zen Buddhist teacher. He is the author, co-author, or editor of seven books, including the three-volume Toward a Science of Consciousness, and over 160 journal articles and scholarly book chapters.

Roshi Joan Halifax, PhD, is a Buddhist teacher, author, anthropologist, and social activist. She is Founder, Abbot, and Head Teacher of Upaya Zen Center. She is author of a number of books, including Being With Dying: Cultivating Compassion & Fearlessness in the Face of Death; and Standing the Edge: Finding Freedom where Fear and Courage Meet.

Monica Sharma trained as a physician and epidemiologist and was the Director of Leadership & Capacity Development for over 20 years. She is the Tata Chair Professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, India and worldwide consultant using the Conscious Full Spectrum Model to generate sustainable and scalable results. She is the author of Radical Transformational Leadership: Strategic Action for Change Agents.